Pittwater residents must now travel further to drop off or reclaim lost pets following the closure of Pittwater Animal Hospital’s (PAH)’s pound facility. The hospital itself remains fully operational.
According to Sarah Yelavic, PAH practice manager, Northern Beaches Council abruptly cut funding to Pittwater in late January so it could centralise services through Collaroy Vet.
“We just got a letter saying that we weren’t the pound anymore,” Sarah told Manly Observer.
PAH pound has been operating on the Northern Beaches for 30 years, partly as a holding facility for the Council, taking in lost or stray animals and attempting to reunite them with their owners or re-home them.
The pound was provided with an annual salary to take in, service and then board animals – from the public or rangers – for seven to 14 days.
“Our yearly salary would include, vaccinating, medicating, desexing, microchipping, all of that stuff. And we were also in charge of all of the paperwork that was associated with running as a pound,” Sarah said.
“It’s not an easy job. It’s quite complicated. You need to be up with the Companion Animals Act. The office of local government changes the way you do things, all the time. So it’s totally like having two businesses in one.
“I think it’ll put a lot of pressure on Collaroy, to be honest, to service the whole of the Northern Beaches.”
Council has stated their decision to centralise both Northern Beaches pounds into one would streamline customer experience and provide the same levels of service “in the most financially efficient matter.”
They claimed to undertake a rigorous tender process that saw Collaroy Veterinary Hospital being awarded the sole contract for pound facilities for their ability to effectively meet the needs of the whole Northern Beaches area.
However, despite the claim of streamlined services, there were some travel and adjustment concerns from the previous pound.
“I think it’s a big area for one space to have. If you find a dog in Palm Beach, and you’ve got to drive to Collaroy, I think it’s just going to take a bit of an adjustment period for members of the public; we’ve been the pound for such a long time,” Sarah shared.
Collaroy Vet has provided pound services on the beaches for over two decades, and while they have now become the sole pound on the beaches, principal veterinarian Dr Peter Prendergast says they aren’t too worried about the extra workflow.
“We’ve been the pound for 21 years, and then for part of that time, Pittwater Animal Hospital was as well. We kind of just shared it jointly,” Dr Prendergast told Manly Observer.
“We have no issues with sort of managing the additional load, we were doing most of it anyway. For example, we re-homed 180 cats in 2024.
“So rest assured, that there is still a pound for the Northern Beaches, it’s just been consolidated.”
Much like Pittwater Animal Hospital, Collaroy Vet wasn’t quite sure why Council decided to centralise the pound on the beaches. They said they were likely chosen because of their but believe it be connected to their and help for rangers with dangerous dogs on the weekends.
Kitten Season
The larger shared issue among pounds isn’t dogs, but cats. Pups who are brought into the pound are usually reunited with their owners quite quickly, however, their feline pet counterparts aren’t so lucky.
During peak times in Summer or Spring, known to vets as ‘kitten season’ many stray cats are brought into the pound, and because Northern Beaches Council has a no-kill policy, they need to be boarded, serviced and re-homed.
“The issue has always been sort of in spring and summer. So there a lot more people finding cats under their house and the factories in Brookvale,” Dr Prendergast said.
“To their credit, Northern Beaches Council have a no-kill policy, so we’re not euthanising these unwanted animals. We’re trying to do our best to re-home them.”
To prevent an influx of cats without homes, Council said they strongly advocate for responsible pet ownership, stressing the importance of desexing to prevent strays.
How To Help Homeless Cats
Adopt! There are always animals ready to adopt at the Collaroy Vet pound.
You can also adopt the remaining cats from the pound previously at Pittwater Animal Hospital.
“Our head nurse looks after all of our cats and knows everything about the cats’ personalities,” Sarah said.
“Obviously, we want to make sure that we’re matching these cats to the right homes. All of our cats are microchipped, had all their vaccinations, desexed, registered with Council, and all of that. And we’ll continue to do that until the last cat is gone.”
Contact Pittwater Animal Hospital to adopt these cats today, or check them out on their Facebook page.
